Schools across the U.S. are doing what they can to help narrow the skills gap and boost graduation rates by offering school programs to students that feature hands-on learning and exposure to real-world work.

A recent finding from a handful of studies suggests the notion that teachers improve over their first three or so years and plateau thereafter may not be true. In fact, they suggest the average teacher's ability to boost student achievement increases.

Michelle Obama is currently on a five-day trip to Asia to promote the U.S.-led education initiative "Let Girls Learn," a community-based program to be run by the Peace Corps that is meant to help girls in the developing world stay in school.